Diversity and prevalence of ticks in the goats in lowland Nepal

Ticks are very harmful blood sucking protozoan- and rickettsial disease-causing arthropods in livestock and cause an adverse economy of the world, including tropical regions like Nepal. Thus, the current study was conducted to determine the distribution, prevalence, and the effects of ticks in the goat of the Rapti Municipality, Chitwan, Nepal. Ticks were picked from different body parts of goats (n=473) and identified to species level by using morphological identification keys under a microscope. The study revealed that 161 (34%) of goats were infested and females had highest prevalence of ticks compared to males (41% vs 28%). A total of 14 species of ticks of genera Haemaphysalis, Amblyomma, Rhipicephalus, Ixodes and Dermacentor were identified. All tick-positive goats were suffered from inflamed wounds with various skin manifestations. In conclusion, this study suggested that appropriate control measures for ticks need to be employed in the study area for economic goat production.